Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of smoking pipes and other smoking devices.
Description of the Related Art
Humans have been smoking various burnable substances for thousands of years, and pipes are probably the earliest known method of smoking. These substances, typically tobacco, are commonly smoked by placing them in the bowl of a pipe. This bowl also serves as the burning chamber or combustion chamber. The substance is lit on fire, thereby creating smoke and fumes (e.g. a thermally generated inhalation aerosol) which may then be inhaled.
In contrast to cigarettes and cigars, which completely burn up during the smoking process, and thus are single use devices, smoking pipes can often last for years and indeed many pipes can last for a lifetime if properly cared for.
Traditional pipes generally consist of a bowl (burning chamber, combustion chamber), with an open end that is generally expected to be held in an open end up position when in use. The bowl in turn is generally connected by a thinner hollow airway tube to a mouthpiece.
Because pipes are multiple use devices, the material used for the bowl often has a major impact on the pipe properties when in use. During the burning reaction, the chemistry of the burning process, and the resulting smoke, can be influenced by the bowl, either favorably or unfavorably. Often bowls made from porous heat-resistant materials are favored.
The porous nature of the bowl, as well as the bowl's basic heat conductivity thickness, can have an impact on the overall temperature of the pipe when in operation, helping the user keep the burning temperature in the optimal range. A porous bowl material can also help absorb excess moisture from the smoke. In some pipes, the bowl material may also char in a desirable manner that also positively contributes to the overall flavor of the smoke, and hence to smoking enjoyment. Here often materials such as briar or other dense woods, porous stone such as meerschaum or clay, or other materials such as corncobs may be used. Briar in particular is highly prized, but it is available in only limited quantities. Briar for pipes is obtained from Erica arborea (briar bush) burls. This bush grows only in a few habitats, and the small, ball-sized burls, which form near the base of the tree between the root and the trunk, typically take from 40 to 100 or more years to form, and must be elaborately seasoned and cured before use. These days such briar burls are hard to find.
In contrast to bowls, which are ideally made of porous materials, pipe mouthpieces, which are intended to be placed in the mouth repeatedly over time, are more commonly made from non-porous materials for sanitation and ease of cleaning.
Although the characteristic shape of a common smoking pipe—the upturned bowl, thin stem, mouthpiece, with the bowl often carefully held with one hand while in use, is known by all, other less common pipe designs have also been proposed.
For example, De Benedictis, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,674,617 proposed a cigar shaped pipe with a unique if somewhat complex design intended to perfectly simulate the appearance of a cigar.
Other tubular pipe designs have also been proposed. For example, a type of pipe called a Zeppelin pipe was produced during the 1920s by Vauen, a German pipe manufacturing firm. This pipe, has a streamlined appearance with a characteristic central bulge, thus somewhat resembling a Zeppelin in appearance. The Zeppelin pipe has a metal cap, and generally unscrews down the down the middle for filling and cleaning.
More recently, Erickson, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,350,523, proposed a tobacco smoking pipe with its own unique cigar shaped design, configured to operate by screwing and unscrewing the bowl from the rest of the pipe.